Medium access control support for heterogeneous physical layer data unit multiplexing

Abstract

A first wireless device communicates with a plurality of wireless devices using a frequency bandwidth and is configured to concurrently transmit a trigger frame message for each of the plurality of wireless devices within a respective trigger frame frequency band of the frequency bandwidth to trigger the plurality of wireless devices to concurrently transmit respective data units to the first wireless device within a respective frequency segment of the frequency bandwidth.

Description

[0001] Cross-referencing related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 038,527, filed June 12, 2020, entitled “Media Access Control Support for Heterogeneus Physical Layer Data Unit Multiplexing,” and U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 343,391, filed June 9, 2021, also entitled “Media Access Control Support for Heterogeneus Physical Layer Data Unit Multiplexing.” Technical Field

[0003] This invention belongs to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically discloses a method and apparatus for transmitting trigger frames in multiple frequency bands. Background Technology

[0004] The goal of successive generations of radio frequency (RF) communication systems has been to apply technologies that can increase the amount of information transmitted using communication resources compared to existing technologies. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards group, typically used in the context of wireless local area network (WLAN) communication systems, is continuously evolving to support higher throughput and includes multiple revisions or generations. However, at any given time, wireless devices communicating through these networks will generally comprise a mix of devices with varying capabilities corresponding to different generations of wireless standards. Some wireless devices, such as legacy wireless devices, may not be configured to fully utilize all the advanced features and resources supported in networks conforming to the latest generation standards.

[0005] For example, network configurations supporting up to 320MHz basic service set (BSS) have been proposed. When such high-bandwidth (BW) networks go online, many wireless devices (e.g., those configured to support earlier generation standards) will only be able to operate within a subset of the available bandwidth.

[0006] Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that enable wireless networks to support heterogeneous communications that enable wireless devices with different capabilities to collectively utilize a large BW. SUMMARY

[0007] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a first wireless device is provided that includes a network interface to communicate with a plurality of wireless devices using a frequency bandwidth, and at least one processor operably connected to the network interface and to transmit, concurrently, trigger frame messages for each of the plurality of wireless devices within respective trigger frame frequency bands of the frequency bandwidth to trigger the plurality of wireless devices to concurrently transmit respective data units to the first wireless device within respective frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth.

[0008] According to some examples of the above aspect, the frequency bandwidth includes a primary frequency band, a first secondary frequency band, and a second secondary frequency band, each of the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band corresponding to a different spectral region of the frequency bandwidth, and the concurrent trigger frame messages include a first trigger frame message, a second trigger frame message, and a third trigger frame message to trigger respective first, second, and third devices of the plurality of wireless devices to transmit respective data units within respective first, second, and third frequency segments, respectively, within the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band, respectively.

[0009] According to some examples of the above aspect, the frequency bandwidth has a bandwidth of 320 MHz, the primary frequency band is an 80 MHz frequency band, the first secondary frequency band is an 80 MHz frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band is a 160 MHz frequency band.

[0010] According to some examples of the above aspect, the processor is to transmit, prior to transmitting the trigger frame messages, a channel announcement message for the plurality of wireless devices, the channel announcement message indicating the respective trigger frame frequency bands for the respective trigger frame messages.

[0011] According to some examples of the above aspect, the channel announcement message indicates that the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message have respective trigger frame frequency bands within the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band.

[0012] According to some examples of the above aspect, the channel announcement message indicates that the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message have respective trigger frame frequency bands that are all within the primary frequency band.

[0013] According to some examples of the above aspect, the processor is configured to include an interframe spacing between the channel announcement message and the concurrently transmitted trigger frame messages, the interframe spacing having a duration sufficient for the first device, the second device, and the third device to tune to the respective trigger frame frequency bands of the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message.

[0014] According to some examples of the above aspect, the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message have different formats conforming to different generations of wireless standards, respectively.

[0015] According to some examples of the above aspect, the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message have the same format, respectively.

[0016] According to some examples of the above aspect, the second trigger frame message and the third trigger frame message have the same format, respectively, which is different from a format of the first trigger frame message.

[0017] According to some examples of the above aspect, an interframe spacing is specified between an end of the concurrently transmitted trigger frame messages and a start of a concurrently transmitted data unit, the interframe spacing having a duration sufficient for the plurality of wireless devices to tune to the respective frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth.

[0018] According to some examples of the above aspect, the data unit is part of an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit, and the frequency bandwidth is within a wireless local area network.

[0019] According to another example aspect is a second wireless device for use as one of a plurality of wireless devices in communication with a first wireless device of any of the above aspects.

[0020] According to another example aspect is a method comprising: concurrently transmitting, for a plurality of wireless devices, trigger frame messages within respective trigger frame frequency bands of a frequency bandwidth to trigger the plurality of wireless devices to concurrently transmit respective data units to the first wireless device within respective frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] Some implementations of the application are described in terms of the following figures.

[0022] Figure 1 Example concurrent data unit transmissions from multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments are shown.

[0023] Figure 2is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless arrangement including a wireless device according to some implementations of the present application.

[0024] Figure 3 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0025] Figure 4 An exemplary frame format according to exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0026] Figure 5 An exemplary frame format according to exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0027] Figure 6 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0028] Figure 7 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0029] Figure 8 An exemplary frame format according to exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0030] Figure 9 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0031] Figure 10 An exemplary frame format according to exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0032] Figure 11 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0033] Figure 12 Messages exchanged between multiple wireless devices using different frequency segments according to exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0034] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a processing unit that can be used to implement a wireless device according to some implementations of the present application.

[0035] In all of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the examples and / or implementations described herein. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and / or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and / or implementations provided in the drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In this invention, the use of the terms “a,” “an,” or “the” is also intended to include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, when used in this invention, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “constituting,” “forming,” “having,” or “possessing” specify the presence of the said element, but do not exclude the presence or addition of other elements.

[0037] The exemplary embodiment is described in the context of a wireless network technology that supports wireless communication between multiple wireless devices using multiple frequency segments within a large frequency bandwidth (BW). In the case of downlink (DL) communication, the source wireless device can transmit signals to multiple receiving wireless devices using non-overlapping frequency segments. In the case of uplink (UL) communication, the receiving wireless device can receive signals that have already been transmitted by multiple transmitting wireless devices using non-overlapping frequency segments. Different frequency segments can carry information that has been modulated or encoded differently.

[0038] For example, the Aggregated Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (A-PPDU) has been proposed as part of the IEEE 802.11 protocol suite to enable multiple wireless devices to concurrently use different frequency segments within a larger frequency band. In this regard, Figure 1 An example of an A-PPDU 150 is shown, comprising three corresponding concurrent data units (DUs), each occupying a corresponding non-overlapping frequency segment within a 320 MHz band. Figure 1 In this configuration, the first DU 210 (P1 DU) is within a primary 80MHz (P80) BW, the second DU 212 (P2 DU) is within a secondary 80MHz (S80) BW, and the third DU 214 is within a secondary 160MHz (S160) BW. In an exemplary embodiment, each of P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214 is symbol-by-symbol orthogonal in the frequency domain, and each DU may have the same or different PPDU formats.

[0039] Figure 2is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless arrangement including a plurality of wireless devices, including an access point (AP) 104 and various electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 for transmitting P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214, respectively. The access point (AP) 104 is capable of communicating with the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 (collectively referred to in the singular as electronic device 106) in a wireless network 102. The AP 104 and the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 are examples of wireless devices capable of performing wireless communications.

[0040] In some examples, the AP 104 and the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 are capable of communicating in accordance with a respective generation of standards within the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 set of standards. In these examples, the wireless network 102 is referred to as a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 are referred to as stations (STAs).

[0041] In other examples, the AP 104 and the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 can communicate in accordance with other standards, including, for example, wireless standards of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In other examples, the wireless standards can include Fifth Generation (5G) wireless standards. In a wireless network, the AP is referred to as a base station, such as an Evolved NodeB (eNB) of LTE.

[0042] Although Figure 1 Only one AP 104 is shown in FIG. 1, it is noted that the wireless network 102 can include multiple APs that define respective coverage areas for communicating with electronic devices. Although Figure 1 Only three EDs are shown in FIG. 1, it is noted that the wireless network 102 can include fewer or more than three EDs.

[0043] Examples of electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 include any or some combination of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device (e.g., a sensor, a camera, a thermostat, a home appliance, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, smart glasses, a head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle, a server computer, a storage device, a communication node, etc.

[0044] The AP 104 includes at least one transceiver 108 that is capable of communicating with respective transceivers 109 of the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3. A “transceiver” includes a transmitter to transmit wireless signals and a receiver to receive wireless signals. The transceiver can include an antenna and associated amplification and modulation / demodulation circuitry.

[0045] In some examples, communications between the AP 104 and the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 in the wireless network 102 can use an orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) channel. According to some wireless standards, such as the IEEE 802.1 lax standard, the OFDMA channel is subdivided into multiple resource units (RUs). Different RUs of the OFDMA channel include subcarriers of different frequencies. Each RU is a subchannel of the OFDMA channel. Although reference is made to the IEEE 802.1 lax, it is noted that techniques or mechanisms according to some implementations of the present disclosure can be used in conjunction with other standards, including future generations of IEEE 802.11 standards or different standards.

[0046] In examples that use OFDMA RUs, the AP 104 can schedule communications in which different frequency segments (e.g., P80 BW, S80 BW, and S160 BW, respectively) are used to communicate with different electronic devices (e.g., electronic device 106-1, electronic device 106-2, and electronic device 106-3, respectively).

[0047] The AP 104 includes a multiple user (MU) control engine 112 that is capable of controlling allocation of frequency segments between the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3. Each electronic device 106-1 through 106-3 includes a respective MU communication engine 114 that is capable of interacting with the MU control engine 112 to perform MU communications with the AP 104 through the frequency segments allocated to the respective electronic device 106-1 through 106-3.

[0048] As used herein, an “engine” can refer to hardware processing circuitry, which can include any or some combination of a microprocessor, a core of a multi-core microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, or other hardware processing circuitry. Alternatively, an “engine” can refer to a combination of hardware processing circuitry and machine-readable instructions (software and / or firmware) executable on the hardware processing circuitry.

[0049] In one example embodiment, each of the electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-3 is configured to communicate with the AP 104 using a respective protocol that complies with a standard from a different generation of standards. For example, the electronic device 106-1 can be a High Efficiency (HE) -capable electronic device that complies with a first generation standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax), the electronic device 106-2 can be an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) -capable electronic device that complies with a more advanced second generation standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11be), and the electronic device 106-3 can be an Extremely High Throughput plus (EHT+) -capable electronic device that complies with an even more advanced third generation standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11EHT+). In at least some examples, an electronic device that complies with a newer generation of standards is also capable of communicating with the AP 104 using a protocol that complies with an earlier generation of standards.

[0050] Example embodiments relate to medium access control (MAC) methods and systems that enable multiple wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 to concurrently communicate uplink with the AP 104 using respective frequency segments and respective communication protocols, which can comply with different generations of communication standards, for example.

[0051] In example embodiments, the multiple wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 exchange communications with the AP 104 using the primary P80 BW to associate with the AP 104, respectively. Once associated with the AP 104, the wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 can receive messages from the AP 104 that inform the wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 of respective frequency segments having available BWs that have been allocated to each of the wireless devices for communicating with the AP 104.

[0052] In this regard, reference will now be made to Figure 3 A first example embodiment of a MAC method for scheduling UL communications from each of the wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 to the AP 104 will be described. In this example, the AP 104 is configured to communicate with the wireless devices 106-1 to 106-3 using a first protocol that complies with a first generation of standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax), a second protocol that complies with a second generation of standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11be), and a third protocol that complies with a third generation of standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11EHT+).Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 1, the UL communication is an aggregated data unit, A-PPDU 150, that includes concurrent data units, PI DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214, transmitted by electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 in frequency segments P80, S80, and S160, respectively. Prior to transmitting A-PPDU 150, MU control engine 112 of AP 104 is used to communicate with respective MU communication engines 114 of electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 to schedule A-PPDU 150. In this example, A-PPDU 150 is scheduled to be transmitted in a first time interval, T1, and a second time interval, T2, that are separated by a time gap, TG. In this example, T1 is a time interval during which AP 104 transmits a message 1, and T2 is a time interval during which AP 104 transmits a message 2. Figure 3 In a first example embodiment of the scheduling of A-PPDU 150, the scheduling uses transmissions by AP 104 in two discrete time intervals that are identified as message 1 from AP 104 and message 2 from AP 104.

[0053] Prior to the message 1 slot, the plurality of wireless devices 106-1 through 106-3 have respectively associated with AP 104 using a primary P80 BW, and are monitoring an announcement channel in the P80 BW for scheduling instructions from AP 104. In some example embodiments, when AP 104 associates with each device, AP 104 is informed of the respective capabilities of electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3. For example, AP 104 can be informed during the association phase that first electronic device 106-1 is compliant with IEEE 802.11ax (e.g., supports HE), but not a subsequent generation of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, that second electronic device 106-2 is compliant with IEEE 802.11be (e.g., supports EHT), but not a subsequent generation of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, and that third electronic device 106-3 is compliant with IEEE 802.11 EHT+ (e.g., supports EHT+).

[0054] In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, MU control engine 112 of AP 104 transmits a channel residency announcement message 216 over the announcement channel in P80 BW. Figure 3 Figure 4 ​A possible frame format of the resident channel announcement message 216 is shown. The resident channel message 216 can have a bandwidth of 20 MHz, for example, although other bandwidths can be used, and includes a plurality of electronic device ID fields and a resident channel field, each electronic device ID field encoding a respective electronic device identifier (e.g., STA-ID 250-1 identifying electronic device 106-1, STA-ID 250-2 identifying electronic device 106-2, and STA-ID 250-3 identifying electronic device 106-3), the resident channel field indicating a respective resident channel bandwidth within one of the P80, S80, and S160 bandwidths for each of the electronic devices 106-1-106-3 (e.g., P-CH 252-1 indicating a resident channel within the P80 BW for electronic device 106-1, P-CH 252-2 indicating a resident channel within the S80 BW for electronic device 106-2, and P-CH 252-3 indicating a resident channel within the S160 BW for electronic device 106-3). In some example embodiments, the field indicating STA-ID 250-1 and channel P-CH 252-1 for electronic device 106-1 can be omitted, as electronic device 106-1 can ignore the resident announcement message as it will be preconfigured to monitor for trigger messages in the P80 BW.

[0055] The MU communication engine 114 of each of the electronic devices 106-1-106-3 is used to decode the resident channel announcement message 216 transmitted by the AP 204 in the announcement channel in the P80 BW and determine its respective resident channel assignment. Each of the electronic devices 106-1-106-3 then tunes its respective transceiver 109 to its respective resident channel. For example, the local oscillator of the transceiver 109 of electronic device 106-1 can be tuned to a center frequency corresponding to the resident channel P-CH 252-1 in the P80 BW, the local oscillator of the transceiver 109 of electronic device 106-2 can be tuned to a center frequency corresponding to the resident channel P-CH 252-2 in the S80 BW, and the local oscillator of the transceiver 109 of electronic device 106-3 can be tuned to a center frequency corresponding to the resident channel P-CH 252-3 in the S160 BW.

[0056] The AP 104 is configured to transmit the respective concurrent trigger frame messages during the message 2 slot following the dwell channel announcement message 216. Specifically, the first trigger frame message, PI trigger frame 220, is transmitted for the first electronic device 106-1 in the dwell channel P-CH 252-1 in the P80 BW, the second trigger frame message, P2 trigger frame 222, is transmitted for the second electronic device 106-2 in the dwell channel P-CH 252-2 in the S80 BW, and the third trigger frame message, P3 trigger frame 224, is transmitted for the third electronic device 106-3 in the dwell channel P-CH 252-3 in the S160 BW. In example embodiments, the PI trigger frame 220 and the P2 trigger frame 222 can each have a 20 MHz BW, while the P3 trigger frame 224 can have a 40 MHz BW.

[0057] In example embodiments, to provide sufficient time for the transceivers 109 of the electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3 to tune to their respective assigned dwell channels, the AP 104 waits a defined duration (e.g., an interframe space (IFS) 226) after completing transmission of the dwell channel announcement 216 before beginning concurrent transmission of the PI trigger frame 220, the P2 trigger frame 222, and the P3 trigger frame 224. In Figure 3 In at least some example embodiments, the IFS 226 has a longer duration than a standard short interframe space (SIFS) that is typically allocated to electronic devices to receive incoming frames and respond with a response frame.

[0058] In one example embodiment, each trigger frame has a respective frame format selected by the MU control engine 112 based on the capabilities of the intended electronic devices 106-1 through 106-3. For example, if the first electronic device 106-1 is compliant with IEEE 802.11ax (e.g., supports HE), but not a subsequent generation of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, the PI trigger frame 220 uses an IEEE 802.11ax trigger frame format. In Figure 5 An example of an IEEE 802.11ax trigger frame format 260 is shown in FIG. 26. If the second electronic device 106-2 is compliant with IEEE 802.11be (e.g., supports EHT), but not a subsequent generation of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, the P2 trigger frame 222 uses an IEEE 802.11be trigger frame format. If the third electronic device 106-3 is compliant with IEEE 802.11EHT+ (e.g., supports EHT+), the P3 trigger frame 224 uses a corresponding EHT+ trigger frame format.

[0059] In an exemplary embodiment, each of the trigger frames 220, 222, and 224 includes a corresponding control information element 262 (see, for example, see...). Figure 5 The control information element 262 addresses the corresponding electronic device 106-1, 106-2, or 106-3. Additionally, the control information element 262 includes an identifier (e.g., AID) for the intended electronic device 106-1, 106-2, or 106-3, and UL information used by the electronic device when communicating with AP 104, including information regarding RU allocation, UL forward error correction (FEC) coding, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and spatial stream (SS) allocation.

[0060] In response to receiving their respective trigger frames 220, 222, 224, each of the corresponding electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, or 106-3 encodes and transmits the corresponding data units P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214 to AP 104 based on the allocation information included in the respective trigger frames 220, 222, 224. For example, as Figure 3 As shown, electronic device 106-1 transmits data unit P1 DU 210 in P80 BW, electronic device 106-2 transmits data unit P2 DU 212 in S80 BW, and electronic device 106-3 transmits data unit P3 DU 214 in S160 BW. The transmissions of electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 are coordinated by their respective MU communication engines 114, such that each of P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214 is transmitted in a time-aligned manner to collectively form A-PPDU 150 to be sent to AP 104. For example, trigger frames 220, 222, and 224 may each have the same duration, and electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 are respectively configured to send P1DU 210, P2DU 212, and P3DU 214 for a predefined duration (e.g., SIFS 228) after receiving trigger frames 220, 222, and 224. In an exemplary embodiment, the duration of SIFS 228 is shorter than the duration of IFS 226.

[0061] Figure 6 This shows the connection to the above text regarding Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 Another exemplary embodiment is the same as the described embodiment, except that, in Figure 6In this embodiment, AP 104 transmits all three trigger frames 220, 222, and 224 within the P80 bandwidth. For example, a first trigger message, P1 trigger frame 220, is transmitted for the first electronic device 106-1 in the primary 20MHz band of the P80 BW; a second trigger message, P2 trigger frame 222, is transmitted for the second electronic device 106-2 in the secondary 20MHz band of the P80 BW; and a third trigger message, P3 trigger frame 224, is transmitted for the third electronic device 106-3 in the secondary 40MHz band of the P80 BW. These corresponding camping channel assignments are specified by AP 104 in Camping Channel Advertisement message 216. Each trigger frame in trigger frames 220, 222, and 224 may specify corresponding uplink signaling parameters within a 320MHz bandwidth for each data unit DU in data units DU 210, 212, and 214. For example, these signaling parameters may include one or more of the RU allocation, MCS encoding, and SS allocation specified in the control information element 262 of the corresponding trigger frame.

[0062] Figure 7 This shows the connection to the above text regarding Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 Another exemplary embodiment, identical to the described embodiment, differs in the following paragraphs. Figure 7 In the embodiments, the same trigger frame 420 is transmitted by AP 104 to the respective wireless devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 in the corresponding resident channel bandwidth. All trigger frames 420 use the same frame format, i.e., a frame format supported by the oldest generation standard. For example, each trigger frame 420 may have the following format: Figure 5 The basic IEEE 802.11ax trigger frame format 260 is shown. The trigger frame 420 generated by the MU control engine 112 of AP 104 includes a corresponding information control element 262 for each of the respective electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3, which specifies at least some UL information for each device. However, it should be noted that in some examples, the previous generation trigger frame may not include all the UL information required for compatibility with next-generation UL communication. Therefore, unique UL information for the respective electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-3 can be included in the Stay Channel Announcement message 416. Stay Channel Announcement 416 is similar to Stay Channel Announcement message 216, except that... Figure 8The resident channel announcement 416 can include one or more device-specific UL control information elements 422-1, 422-2, and 422-3 that specify information that cannot be specified in the trigger frame 420. For example, the UL control information elements 422-2 and 422-3 can include fields that indicate RU / MRU allocations and SS allocations for the electronic devices 106-2 and 106-3, respectively. In some examples, the UL control information element 422-1 can be omitted from the resident channel announcement message 416 because the relevant information for the first electronic device 106-1 can be included in the trigger frame 420.

[0063] Figure 9 Another example embodiment is shown that is the same as the embodiments described above with respect to Figure 7 and Figure 8 The differences are described in the following paragraphs. In the embodiment of Figure 9 the resident channel announcement message 216 is the same as the resident channel announcement message described above with respect to the embodiment of Figures 3 to 5 and does not include UL control information. In the embodiment of Figure 9 the format of the trigger frames 522 and 524 sent for the electronic devices 106-2 and 106-3 is configured to enable the UL control information required by the electronic devices 106-2 and 106-3 to be included in the trigger frames 522 and 524. In this regard, in example embodiments, the trigger frames 522 and 524, which can have the same format and in some examples can be the same, are Figure 5 modified versions of the IEEE 801.11ax frame format 260 of Figure 10 In this regard, the IEEE 801.11ax frame format 260E that can be used in example embodiments for the trigger frames 522 and 524 is shown. The extended frame format 260E includes a UL control information element 560 within the device-specific control information field 262, which can include respective fields for specifying device-specific uplink information, such as fields that indicate RU / MRU allocations and SS allocations. The UL control information for the electronic device 106-2 can be included in the extended P2 trigger frame 522, the UL control information for the electronic device 106-3 can be included in the extended P2 trigger frame 524, and the UL control information for the first electronic device 106-1 is included in the basic P1 trigger frame 220.

[0064] In an example embodiment, the PI trigger frame 220, the P2 trigger frame 522, and the P2 trigger frame 524 can all be copies of the same trigger frame, and the device specific information is included in the corresponding device specific information control element 262. In some examples, a designated bit with the device specific information control element 262 can be used to indicate the presence of the UL control information element 560. For example, the reserved bit (B39) can be used to indicate the presence of the UL control information element 560. The receiving electronic devices 106-1 that are compliant with the earlier standard and do not require the additional UL control information element 560 can ignore such information and treat such information as part of the padding field after the device specific control information element field 262.

[0065] Figure 11 Another example embodiment that is different from the above embodiments is shown as follows. In this example embodiment, the AP 104 does not send a dwell announcement message before issuing the trigger frames 620, 622, 624. In one example embodiment, the PI trigger frame 620 has the basic trigger frame format 260 shown in FIG. 6B, the P2 trigger frame 622 and the P2 trigger frame 624 have the extended trigger frame format 260E shown in FIG. 6C, respectively, with the following differences. Since this example embodiment does not include a dwell announcement message, the device specific UL information (e.g., UL channel frequency) for the electronic devices 106-2 and 106-3 can be included in the device specific control information element 262 of the extended trigger frames 622, 624. For example, information such as UL channel frequency can be included in the additional field provided in the UL control information element 560 as well as in the device specific control information such as RU / MRU allocation and SS allocation. Figure 11 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 11

[0066] Figure 11 ​​​​​As shown, the trigger frames 620, 622, 624 are all issued in the respective frequency band (e.g., which can be a 20 MHz frequency band) of the P80 BW. In response to receiving their respective trigger frames 620, 622, 624, each of the respective electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, or 106-3 tunes to their assigned UL frequency and transmits a respective data unit P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214 to the AP 104 based on the allocation information included in the respective trigger frames 620, 622, 624. The transmissions of the electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-3 are coordinated by their respective MU communication engines 114 such that each of the P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214 are transmitted in time-alignment with each other to collectively form the A-PPDU 150 to the AP 104. For example, the trigger frames 620, 622, 624 can each have the same duration, and the electronic devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-3 are each configured to transmit the P1 DU 210, P2 DU 212, and P3 DU 214, respectively, after receiving the trigger frames 220, 222, 224, respectively, for a predefined duration (e.g., IFS 226). In an example embodiment, as described above, the duration of the SIFS 226 is greater than the standard SIFS 226. This can provide the electronic devices 106-1 to 106-3 time to tune to the correct uplink frequency.

[0067] Figure 12 Another example embodiment is shown, which illustrates the case where all of the electronic devices 106-1 to 106-3 conform to the same generation of standard, e.g., all three electronic devices 106-1 to 106-3 are capable of processing trigger frames having a common format "P2". In this example, all of the electronic devices 106-1 to 106-3 associated with the AP 104 are homo-amendment based. No channel camping announcement messages are needed, and all of the electronic devices can use the same trigger frame format, provided that sufficient inter-frame spacing IFS 226 is provided between the trigger frames 820 to 824 and the A-PPDU 150 to allow the respective electronic devices 160-1 to 160-3 to tune to their assigned frequencies. For example, multiple trigger frame formats as shown in Figure 12 may be used in the example of Figure 11 .

[0068] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a wireless device 400, which can be the AP 104 or Figure 2 the electronic device 106 of Figure 2electronic device 106. Wireless device 400 includes one or more hardware processors 402. Hardware processors can include microprocessors, cores of multi-core microprocessors, microcontrollers, programmable integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays, digital signal processors, or other hardware processing circuitry.

[0069] Wireless device 400 also includes a network interface 404 to communicate over a wireless network (e.g., 102) in the case of AP 104 or electronic device 106. Network interface 404 includes a transceiver and network protocol layers to support communication over the wireless network. In the case of AP 104, network interface 404 includes transceiver 108, and in the case of electronic device 106, network interface 404 includes transceiver 109. Figure 2

[0070] Wireless device 400 also includes a non-transitory machine-readable or computer- readable storage medium 406 that stores machine-readable instructions executable on the one or more hardware processors 402 to perform respective tasks.

[0071] The machine-readable instructions include MU-related instructions 408 that, when executed on the one or more hardware processors 402, can perform the tasks of MU control engine 112 of Figure 2 or the tasks of MU communication engine 114 of Figure 2 .

[0072] The storage medium (e.g., 406) can include one or more types of computer-readable storage media or memory media such as Figure 4 ​The memory 406 in the computer system 400 can include any or a combination of the following: volatile memory, e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or static random access memory (SRAM); non-volatile memory, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory; a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM); digitally versatile disc read-only memory (DVD-ROM); magnetic disks, e.g., fixed, floppy, removable disks; other magnetic media including tape; optical media such as compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD); or other storage devices. It is to be appreciated that the instructions discussed above can be provided on one computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively, can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media in multiple nodes of a large system. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article of manufacture can refer to one or more computer programs that are fabricated or made available separately or collectively, in individual or a variety of media, e.g., machine- readable storage media. The instructions can be executable by the computer system 400 in the computing device 402 or by other devices (not shown) in the system. The computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium can be made available (i) over the Internet, (ii) over a computer network or (iii) over a bandwidth-inlaid or broadcast communication medium.

[0073] In the description above, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However, implementations can be practiced without some or all of these details. Other implementations can include modifications and variations of the details discussed. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A first wireless device, comprising: comprising: a network interface to communicate with a plurality of wireless devices using a frequency bandwidth, the frequency bandwidth comprising a primary frequency band, a first secondary frequency band, and a second secondary frequency band, each of the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band corresponding to a different spectral region of the frequency bandwidth; and at least one processor, operatively connected to the network interface, to transmit, concurrently within respective trigger frame frequency bands of the frequency bandwidth, a first trigger frame message, a second trigger frame message, and a third trigger frame message for each of the plurality of wireless devices to trigger respective first, second, and third devices of the plurality of wireless devices to transmit, concurrently within respective first, second, and third frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth, respective data units to the first wireless device, the first, second, and third frequency segments being within the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band, respectively; wherein the processor is to transmit, prior to transmitting the first, second, and third trigger frame messages, a channel announcement message indicating that the first, second, and third trigger frame messages have respective trigger frame frequency bands that are all within the primary frequency band.

2. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, the frequency bandwidth has a bandwidth of 320 MHz, the primary frequency band is an 80 MHz frequency band, the first secondary frequency band is an 80 MHz frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band is a 160 MHz frequency band.

3. The first wireless device of claim 1, wherein, the processor is configured to include an interframe spacing between the channel announcement message and the concurrently transmitted trigger frame messages, the interframe spacing having a sufficient duration to enable the first, second, and third devices to tune to the respective trigger frame frequency bands of the first, second, and third trigger frame messages.

4. The first wireless device of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, the first, second, and third trigger frame messages have different formats in compliance with different generations of wireless standards, respectively.

5. The first wireless device of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, the first, second, and third trigger frame messages have the same format, respectively.

6. The first wireless device of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, the second and third trigger frame messages have the same format, respectively, which is different from a format of the first trigger frame message.

7. The first wireless device of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, an interframe spacing is specified between an end of the concurrently transmitted first, second, and third trigger frame messages and a beginning of concurrently transmitted data units, the interframe spacing having a sufficient duration to enable the plurality of wireless devices to tune to the respective frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth.

8. The first wireless device of any one of claims 1-3, wherein, the data units are part of an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit, and the frequency bandwidth is within a wireless local area network.

9. A method for a first wireless device, the method comprising: comprising: transmitting a channel announcement message for a plurality of wireless devices, the channel announcement message indicating that a first trigger frame message, a second trigger frame message, and a third trigger frame message have respective trigger frame frequency bands within a frequency bandwidth, the frequency bandwidth comprising a primary frequency band, a first secondary frequency band, and a second secondary frequency band, each of the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band corresponding to a different spectral region of the frequency bandwidth, the channel announcement message indicating that the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message have respective trigger frame frequency bands that are all within the primary frequency band; and transmitting the first trigger frame message, the second trigger frame message, and the third trigger frame message concurrently within the respective trigger frame frequency bands of the frequency bandwidth for the plurality of wireless devices to trigger respective first, second, and third devices of the plurality of wireless devices to concurrently transmit respective data units to the first wireless device within respective first, second, and third frequency segments of the frequency bandwidth, the first, second, and third frequency segments being within the primary frequency band, the first secondary frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band, respectively.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, the frequency bandwidth having a bandwidth of 320 MHz, the primary frequency band being an 80 MHz frequency band, the first secondary frequency band being an 80 MHz frequency band, and the second secondary frequency band being a 160 MHz frequency band.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, including: including an interframe spacing between the channel announcement message and the concurrently transmitted trigger frame messages, the interframe spacing having sufficient duration to enable the first, second, and third devices to tune to the respective trigger frame frequency bands of the first, second, and third trigger frame messages; and (a) wherein the first, second, and third trigger frame messages have different formats conforming to different generations of a wireless standard, respectively; or (b) wherein the first, second, and third trigger frame messages have the same format, respectively; or (c) wherein the second and third trigger frame messages have the same format, respectively, the same format being different from a format of the first trigger frame message; and wherein the data units are part of an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit, and the frequency bandwidth is within a wireless local area network.

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